Schneider Electric has commissioned a 720 kWp capacity solar power project at its manufacturing facility in Vadodara, Gujarat. The solar project, built on a rooftop area of 6,000 square meters, covers almost 45 per cent of the total factory load and will produce over 1.05 million units of electricity per year.

The short-term power market is up for an eventful journey in FY18-FY20, says India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra). However, the market is inhibited by impediments such as transmission constraints, opaque processes on open access within most states and steep cross-subsidy charges. A power supply-demand mismatch and a hiatus in long-term power purchase by states provide immense opportunities to the merchant market.

Private thermal projects are staring at muted power demand, which is the effects of non-remunerative tariffs partly due to aggressive bids and some adverse perception due to falling renewable tariff, says India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra).

I think in many sectors the policies are conducive. The most recent example is the Rewa Ultra Mega Solar Project, where IFC was the lead public-private-partnership (PPP) transaction advisor. We helped structure the bidding process to include a three-tiered payment security mechanism.

It is often pointed out that every rupee invested in ramping up railway infrastructure benefits the economy six times over. Therefore, after languishing for nearly 70 years, modernisation of the sector has been put on the fast track.

Hitachi and its subsidiary company, Ansaldo, are engaged with the Indian Railways on many platforms. We will be introducing state-of-the-art technology in signalling and telecommunications on the Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) from Delhi to Mumbai.

Mangu Singh, Managing Director, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) indicates that challenges around land acquisition have slowed down the ongoing extension of metro rail network. Therefore, if the need arises again, the metro rail operator in the Delhi National Capital Region (NCR) will not be averse to negotiating directly with private landowners.